Destinations / Itineraries 7hr 40 stopover in FRA - any advice?

Hi Ben. We have a 7hr45 minute layover in Frankfurt before the evening LH flight to Singapore. Can you recommend lounges or otherwise to pass some time? We have a LH business class tickets and no status FF status. We will most likely arrive at the non-schengen B gates and leave from the Z gates. Would you risk going into the city or stay at the airport?

We only have business lounge access as have no frequent flyer status. We were thinking of Air Canada Maple lounge before going to the Z gate Lufthansa business lounge. Rather than spending seven hours in the terminal, would it be worth the risk going into the city? We originally had a 5 hour layover but Lufthansa cancelled out flight from Manchester and booked us on the earlier flight.

That's an option we looked at but it's looking quite costly, €230 for four hours and we probably wouldn't sleep as it's in the middle of the afternoon. I have e-mailed Lufthansa to ask for written confirmation we can't leave the airport as I believe we were given incorrect information over the phone.

I doubt the airline cares what you do during your layover. They dont have a real way of tracking you and they certainly cant keep you at the airport. The only thing is if you miss your connecting flight, your bags are offloaded from that aircraft.

I am faced with a similar situation if my planned award ticket is ever booked. I was considering driving to the Sinsheim museum where there is a Concorde, a Tupolev Tu-144 (Concorde-ski), and many other planes. An alternative is to just wander around Frankfurt.

the senator lounge has a small sleeping area w/ pillows and blankets as well as shower facilities. you can take a nap and a shower. they have hot food/snacks and plenty of things to drink. i'm sure the business lounge has similar offerings

i always fly from the us to asia thru FRA and MUC with a 6+ hour connection and it's always been a comfortable layover for me

Agree with Tiffany. this sounds strange. Airlines don't determine (and nor can they really track) how you spend your transit time. With an almost 8 hour layover you can easily get to the city and back.

@David: yes that's true but if I miss my flight I would want my bags to be offloaded so I have my stuff with me.

How, exactly, will Lufthansa know whether or not you are in the airport?

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I have no idea, they probably won't. Lufthansa Customer Services have given the following written response "In case the passenger goes out of the airport, the luggage needs to be picked up and checked in again.
However, you can of course ask to our colleagues at the airport to leave the luggages at our desk or to transfer automatically to your connecting flight.
This is something that needs to be asked at the airport, as we can not guarantee the automatic transfer." This seems contradictory to me. I think we will stay airside and lounge hop. We will try Air Canada Maple Leaf then the Z gates business lounge for the evening A380 departure. Does anyone know whether we are allowed to enter the Schengen zone go go to the A26 lounge if we are flying non-schepgen to non-schengen?

Yeah, I'd ignore that message from LH. You can leave the airport - just pass thru immigration. Your bags will be fine and transferred to the next flight. They'll only pull your bags if you miss the connecting flight.

Yes I;m sure you'll be able to the A26 lounge - leave enough time to go thru immigration both times though.

Yeah, I'd ignore that message from LH. You can leave the airport - just pass thru immigration. Your bags will be fine and transferred to the next flight. They'll only pull your bags if you miss the connecting flight.

Yes I;m sure you'll be able to the A26 lounge - leave enough time to go thru immigration both times though.

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Thanks David, time is one thing we sure do have lots of! I think a day of lounge hopping is coming up. I have read that there are two private bedrooms in the A26 lounge as it used to be the first class lounge, hopefully they will be free.

ABOUT LUCKY

Ben Schlappig (aka Lucky) is a travel consultant, blogger, and avid points collector. He travels about 400,000 miles a year, primarily using miles and points to fund his first class experiences. He chronicles his adventures, along with industry news, here at One Mile At A Time.
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